PAF jet crashes in Jhang, pilot ejects safely

E-Paper | March 17, 2026

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Mirage-5 jet crashed in Athara Hazari area situated in Punjab's Jhang district on Monday. The pilot of the aircraft managed to survive the crash.

The fighter jet was on a routine training mission when it met with the crash, according to a spokesperson of the PAF Air Commodore Tariq, who added that the aircraft's pilot remained safe in the incident as he had executed a safe ejection.

"No loss of civilian life and property has been reported on ground," the spokesman told Dawn, adding that a board of inquiry has been ordered by the Air Headquarters in Islamabad to determine the cause of accident.

A PAF Mirage training jet had crashed in Gadap area on the outskirts of Karachi on Nov 21 while it was on a training flight, killing its pilot and squadron leader Tanveer Ahmed.

Earlier in June, three people were killed and eight others injured when a PAF fighter plane had crashed at a bus terminal in Karachi’s Baldia Town area.

Take a look: Three killed as PAF jet crashes in Karachi's Baldia Town

Those killed included both pilots operating the plane and an ordinary citizen.

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Omair

Dec 01, 2014 02:22pm

Mirages are too old to fly now. PAF should discard them.

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ROHIT PANDEY

Dec 01, 2014 02:29pm

Ouch! For a moment, I thought that the militants had got hold of Stinger missiles or something else?:):):)

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Sunil

Dec 01, 2014 02:31pm

Pilot error or mechanical failure?

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rehan

Dec 01, 2014 02:38pm

@Sunil Pakistani pilot holds a record of shooting down 5 Indian planes in 1 minute. i guess that was a pilot error too. This dubious honor of getting so many planes shot down in so little time is so far retained by IAF.

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hasan jamal

Dec 01, 2014 02:43pm

it seems the fighter jet has made its turn in PAF. Now they must be replaced with some better jet liners.

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Burki

Dec 01, 2014 02:45pm

if you look at the lifestyle of higher ranks officers, be it army, airforce or navy, you'd think it may be the richest and the most resourceful forces in the world. So much money is wasted on supporting their British Raj type luxurious lifestyle filled with all kinds of perks and benefits. Yet look at military hardware - outdated more than quarter century old junk stuff, painted and repainted to be displayed every year for 23 March parade.

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arslan

Dec 01, 2014 02:50pm

@ROHIT PANDEY Well of course you guys will know what you are supplying the militants with :P

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Naveed

Dec 01, 2014 02:52pm

It's about time to speed up JF 17 production as all these old mirages we're meant to be replaced by locally manufactured thunders, if can replace an ageing aircraft but there is no replacement of a precious life.

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Alitt

Dec 01, 2014 03:04pm

Good the old full fledged fighter planes are being used for training..gives a good combat experience. I think PAK knows what they are dong. They squeeze efficiency till the last drop.

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still happening

Dec 01, 2014 03:10pm

And yeah we did not make Rang De Basanti on that topic and please have a look at IAF's plane crash statistics. :) :) :) before getting unleashed on everything.

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Zeeshan Shamsi

Dec 01, 2014 03:25pm

@Omair Discard mirages, and then get what? PAF already undertaking a fleet replacement program with JF17.

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Jatt

Dec 01, 2014 03:40pm

O Dawn! The pic is of F-16 MRF, NOT of Mirage... get your facts straight...

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Sunil

Dec 01, 2014 03:48pm

@hasan jamal Its not a jet liner, its a jet fighter aircraft.

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edwardian

Dec 01, 2014 03:51pm

@Omair True Mirages have lived their lives but the missiles [air to surface (sea)] which were procured from France can only be operated by Mirages.

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Kalimullah

Dec 01, 2014 04:01pm

Come on Dawn, this picture is not Mirage its JF-17. Please before posting this pictures do some research.

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ahmed

Dec 01, 2014 04:12pm

@Kalimullah its a F-16

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ahmed

Dec 01, 2014 04:13pm

The Mirages are slowly being replaced by JF-17s. It'll take some time though. Our defense funding has to increase two folds if we are to accelerate the replacement program.

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Haris Ahmed

Dec 01, 2014 04:14pm

The picture is of F-16. Please correct it.

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Suhail Afradi

Dec 01, 2014 05:11pm

If French technology is like this what will happen to chinese planes after 5 years... Scary thought

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Syed Raza Mehdi

Dec 01, 2014 05:19pm

be careful lads prove we are the best

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A shah

Dec 01, 2014 06:07pm

And we want to buy Russian planes?

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SamD

Dec 01, 2014 06:08pm

@rehan - Shooting down 5 Indian planes in one minute is the propaganda fed to you similar to "Pakistan is winning" on radio and ptv in 1971 war while your general was surrendering. Go to library and take out the archives to read them of those days... hours before surrendering. Don't you question why only the Pakistani sources only claim of 5 shootings in 1 minute and that and no other neutral sources. While there is no doubt that PAF is professional and have brave fighters just like any other airmen of any other country but don't you wonder where were they when Osama raid by USA went on in your airspace for 40 minutes ? Oh wait..it can not be questioned..isn't it ? So keep believing in propaganda fed to you..and you don't need enemies on borders.

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Aamir Khan

Dec 01, 2014 06:12pm

"A Mirage fighter jet soars high in the sky" reads the photo caption... That's an F16. :/

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Sayed Qazi,M.D.

Dec 01, 2014 06:19pm

As with everything else,mediocrity is evident in DAWN too.Please look at the photo of the aircraft attached with this article.It is of an F-16 NOT of a Mirage jet fighter.

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rattan

Dec 01, 2014 07:30pm

As long as the pilot is safe who cares

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faisal

Dec 01, 2014 07:44pm

Mirage's airframe has reached its life. Australia sold them citing reason that they are not air worthy. We repaired them upgraded them to ROSE standard ,still they can't fly forever.

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nabil

Dec 01, 2014 09:07pm

PAF needs to replace these age old squadron fleet of aircraft. they are death wish.

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rehan

Dec 02, 2014 12:18pm

@arslan hahahah...owned !!!!! Way to go , man.

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rehan

Dec 03, 2014 12:04pm

One PAF jet crashes. Indian trolls go wild . Very very amusing :-)

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raj

Dec 03, 2014 12:06pm

@rehan That record was nonsense and is doubted by pakistani pilots themselves. The only record PAF holds is off running away on seeing IAF.

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Shehzad

Dec 03, 2014 12:32pm

A huge loss of Pakistani tax payer's hard-earned money and whether it was an accident or deliberate act to conceal something.

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Let's Face it !!!

Dec 03, 2014 02:12pm

chinese products at its best

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bangash

Dec 04, 2014 08:04am

plane shown picture is F16, not Mirage 5

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Ammy

Dec 04, 2014 08:39am

All these machine have a shelf life. IAF had its share with old Russian planes, now it's lurking over PAF. Good decision by Pakistan to have JF 17 Thunder, the home made ones, one has better control and scope of modernisation on own product .

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Muhammad Umer

Dec 04, 2014 11:09am

Will they ever tell us how many planes have gone down in the recent past and how much financial loss this poor country had to bear? Any inquiry? Anyone convicted? Anyone punished? Who will recover this public money?

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